by Richard Bruton

Operation Overlord, across the four volumes, has built up into a detailed, revealing and harrowing account of the individual tales behind the biggest military operation of WII. It’s a perfect finale to this excellent series, mixing complex military planning and operations with a series of intensely personal stories, all seen through the lens of Sergeant Clague, of the British Army Film and Photographic Unit.

Clague’s job is to join the first wave of troops taking the beach, amongst them the only free French unit, the No. 4 Commando, Kieffer’s Commandos, commanded by the inspirational Philippe Kieffer.

Alongside British commando units, we see them training, preparing for a mission where they knew their chances of escaping with their lives were slim and escaping unscathed almost impossible. And through Clague’s lens we see them all the way through their incredibly dangerous mission, intent on getting 12km inland, just 177 free Frenchmen determined to liberate their country from the Nazi occupation.

It’s been an excellent series, deserving of the wider attention brought from Rebellion bringing us this English translation. And it’s a perfect example of the breadth and depth of European comics, something that’s been sadly lacking in US comic shops for far, far too long.

Operation Overlord Volume 4: Commando Kieffer. Written by Bruno Falba, art by Davide Fabbri, colors by Domenico Neziti, translation by Ivanka Hahnenberger, English letters by Gemma Sheldrake. Published by Rebellion and The Treasury of British Comics on 28 August 2019.